RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Prehospital paediatric emergency care: paediatric triage JF Emergency Medicine Journal JO Emerg Med J FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and the British Association for Accident & Emergency Medicine SP 767 OP 768 DO 10.1136/emj.2008.061556 VO 26 IS 11 A1 J M Sandell A1 I K Maconochie A1 F Jewkes YR 2009 UL http://emj.bmj.com/content/26/11/767.abstract AB The practice of triage was conceived during the Napoleonic wars, with the aim of salvaging those soldiers whose injuries were readily treatable, returning them to the battlefield at the earliest opportunity. Literally, the word triage means “to sieve” or “to sort” (French trier), and those earlier battlefield principles have been refined and expanded to now encompass trauma and medical emergencies, with triage practiced in prehospital and hospital settings. To address the anatomical, physiological and developmental differences encountered when dealing with children, specific paediatric triage systems have also been developed, and this article discusses their merits.